Enlightenment
by Anrixan
Summary: Set six months after Advent Children. Things are fun until a tragic accident happens to Tifa, knocking her unconscious. When she wakes up, she finds herself in an...awkward situation and realizes that nothing will ever be the same... CloTi. RuTi in later


**May 3rd, 2006. **

**Coincidently, it's Tifa Lockheart's birthday, but I really didn't mean to post it on this date intentionally. This is my first FFVII fic that I have written, and I honestly thought I never would write for this fandom. I've written a lot for FFVI,X, and X-2, butyeah, first time for FFVII.After rping as Tifa in two different rps, I decided that I wanted to do something else with her and learn to write the other characters myself, thus, the idea for this fic was born. I've actually had theplot for quite a while and I've experimented around with it, (written different chapters in different parts of the fic) so I figured that I should just start posting it to motivate myself! I hope you enjoy. **

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**Enlightenment**

_Chapter One_

"Okay, coming right up!" I said frantically, mixing the right ingredients for the drink I was making for a customer. As soon as I handed my customer his drink, another two people called out orders… and it had been like that the entire night. It was the first time that I held 7th Heaven open since the whole situation with Kadaj and his brothers six months ago, and I was certainly making up for it for how busy I was. 7th Heaven hadn't been that busy since I first opened it in Edge about two years ago, and although it was exciting, it was starting to wear me out. It took me a long time to prepare the bar again before the reopening, so I was starting to question myself how I was able to keep my eyes open and focus at the same time. At least I wasn't falling over, so I considered that a good thing. I just maintained the smile on my face and kept up with the orders.

"You a little busy tonight?"

I looked up at the sound of the voice to see Cloud, who was leaning against the bar with an amused look on his face. Returning the expression, I handed the drinks to my customers but kept my attention focused on him. "Yeah, I guess a lot more people wanted 7th Heaven to reopen than I thought. Somehow, I really don't feel inclined to complain."

"If I knew how to mix drinks, I would help," he said with a shrug and sat down on one of the bar stools. "You know me, I usually just—" Without finishing his sentence, I handed him a bottle of water. He didn't like to drink besides an occasional glass of wine or champagne, same thing for myself. Ironic that I owned a bar, yet didn't like to drink. "Thanks."

"Pay me later," I told him, even though we both knew that I wasn't expecting him to. Looking around, I realized that no one was shouting orders at me, and instead just sitting at their tables conversing. "Wow. I have a second of silence. This hasn't happened since… "I looked at my watch for basically the first time since I opened the bar and my eyes went wide. "It's already 12:30?"

"Yep," he replied, twisting the cap off the bottle and taking a sip. With another smirk, he gently pinched me on the cheek. "Past your bedtime, Lockheart."

It wasn't, but it didn't stop the fact that I was rather tired and I wouldn't have minded being in bed at the moment. I leaned over so I was a little closer to him and said, "Barret has the kids for the weekend, by the by. He stopped in yesterday after you left for your delivery, so if you walk upstairs and wonder why they're not there, that's why."

"Gotcha," he muttered as he looked around and took a sip of his drink.

"Mm-hmm," I said with a nod, resting my forearms on the counter and looking him in the eyes. "What is it?" There was something bothering him. Not because he wasn't acting affectionate, he usually wasn't when we were in a large group of people, which was fine with me. The fact that Cloud and I were again dating was still kept only between us, to save us from the media and other factors like that. But, I knew when something was on his mind and he didn't want to talk about it… and it was definitely one of those times.

He smiled at me and innocently chuckled. "What are you talking about? You're giving me that look like you're trying to read my mind, Tifa. I know that look well."

"Perhaps I am," I replied, backing up a little to take a glance around the bar and make sure that everything was still orderly. "I know _you_ too well, Cloud Strife, and I can tell when you're hiding something. That's why you get the look so often."

"Everything's fine. There hasn't been any sign of issues or trouble in the past six months, and I would be grateful if it would remain that way for a while so we can both get our businesses and our lives back on their feet." After tapping his index finger on the bar, he bit at his lower lip. "I'd like to have as close to a normal life as possible for a little while before the hero card has to be played again."

I quirked an eyebrow at him. I was starting to understand what he was trying to avoid, so I said, "Rufus Shinra called your office phone about six times today." The way his face fell proved that I was correct, and he was hiding exactly what I thought he was. After a brief pause, I added, "I swear, he should just get your cell number. That way he could directly get to you and it would make my life easier by not having to play secretary." I was joking, so I gave him a playful glare at the end of my statement.

With a sigh, he mumbled, "He _has _my cell number. I gave it to him when he hired me as his bodyguard a few months back. Not like ShinRa doesn't have enough security as it is…" He pulled out his phone, went to his recent calls, then handed it to me. I expected him to do that for Rufus did tell me that he was going to call Cloud's cell phone after the final time he talked to me, but I wasn't sure if Cloud was going to admit it. "As you can tell, he's called _me_ five times today. Oh, and Elena also called me from her cell somewhere in the middle of all that. I didn't know that she had my number, but I'm pretty sure all the Turks do."

"It, unfortunately, makes sense. From what I've seen, ShinRa doesn't have the best security, so that's where you come in," I muttered, handing the phone back to Cloud. Sighing, I asked, "What does Shinra want with you?"

Cloud shut his phone and put it in his pocket. "Not a clue, but I don't think they're calling that persistently to invite me to tea tomorrow afternoon."

"You're telling me you haven't answered your phone, aren't you?" It was more asking for confirmation than an actual question, so I received a small shake of his head as an answer. "Ha, I should've known."

He rolled the bottom of the bottle in a circle on the bar, making a small 'tch' sound. "I answer my phone if it's you or the kids, but, honestly, why would I want to get involved with Shinra, Tifa? The last time I did…"

As if right on cue, the door to 7th Heaven flung open so hard that it hit the opposite wall, and caused me to cringe. Not only was that one of the reasons why I didn't put any pictures on that wall, but I had to patch up that wall a while back because of the door knob hitting a hole and I didn't want to do it again. I needed to invest in a doorstop before the next time I held the bar open. However, I wasn't able to dwell on it and an order was shouted from the doorway. "Lockheart!" A snap of the fingers in my direction. "The usual!"

I exchanged a glance with Cloud and watched the seven people walk in and head toward the counter. They were the Turks, and I wasn't the least bit surprised. They were the Designated Drunks of Midgar, so of course they were going to be at 7th Heaven when I reopened. With a sigh, I said, "coming right up, Reno." Turning to Cloud, I added, "It's sad that I've been closed for a half of a year and I still remember what 'the usual' is."

Reno and the other Turks, three of which I didn't recognize, walked up to the counter and surrounded Cloud, who looked less than thrilled to be in their presence. His good mood was clearly ruined. "Strife, you're a hard man to track down!"

I handed Reno the drink and immediately was bombarded with orders from the remaining Turks. They were rather loud, so many of my customers started to grumble and leave. I frowned and watched them go out the door, then continued to make the drinks for the Turks.

"Ooh, I'd like a double!" I blinked in surprise at the demand, for I didn't recognize the Turk…. And also because I saw exactly where he was staring. Obviously, he was not talking about the size of the drink that he wanted. Pulling up the front of my shirt so there was less cleavage showing and I could avoid more comments like the previous, I noted that he looked much like a younger version of Reno… acted like him too. I never watched the Turks very closely, even though they did hold some kind of unwritten peace treaty with AVALANCHE, but knowing they were regulars at 7th Heaven, I knew them all…except him and the two other girl Turks besides Elena. One had her blonde hair up in a ponytail and the other had long grey hair that fell down her back. Apparently they had new additions to ShinRa when they rebuilt the Headquarters in Junon recently.

"Mini-me," Reno said to the Turk as he put a hand on his shoulder, confirming the fact that the two of them looked so much alike. "Now, what did we talk about earlier? No getting drunk before me."

Ignoring them both, I sighed and continued to make their drinks, looking over at Cloud at the same time. He wasn't looking at any of them, even though they were very close to him, but instead traced his finger around the top of the bottle, set his jaw, and continued to look forward.

Elena chuckled, took a sip of her margarita, then pulled a bar stool close to Cloud, who looked up at me and sent me an annoyed glance over her presence. I smiled at him and handed the grey haired Turk the drink that she ordered. "So Cloud, the President wants to see you tomorrow morning at 11:30 at his office. I'd make sure that you leave early enough so you don't keep him waiting. He's not a very patient man, you know."

"Yeah, well, you can tell Shinra not to bother waiting because I won't be there." He stood up and walked out of the room, taking his water with him. I was about to say something to him, but I knew that if he stayed, he never would've heard the end of it and would've been bothered all night. Therefore, I just watched Elena and the blond haired Turk giggle as he walked past them.

"So, what does Rufus want, anyway?" I asked Tseng, handing him the wine he ordered. Before he was able to thank or answer me, his phone rang. I sometimes wondered if the planet would stop rotating if that man forgot his phone one of these days.

"My apologies, Miss Lockheart," he stated before turning around and answering his phone. "It's Tseng."

"Hey, Tseng," Reno said, downing the rest of his drink in one gulp, then handing it to me as a silent way of asking for another. "You better tell the phone sex hotline to stop calling you!"

"Reno," he said as a warning, his voice stern, holding up his index finger to silence him. Clearly it was a business call. I wasn't sure how he was able to hear the person on the other end due to the fact that it was rather noisy in the room.

The Turk with the ponytail that was sitting next to Elena stood up and nudged Reno in the shoulder before handing me her empty glass. I assumed she wanted a refill, so I began making her drink as she continued to poke Reno in the shoulder. "Jealous, Reno?"

"Shove it, Sam," Reno retorted as he lit up a cigarette, an obvious edge to his voice.

I raised an eyebrow, but decided to not even ask about it. Whatever the Turks did on their own time was their own business… even if they did all gossip like school girls about everyone else's business. I was just thankful that my private life was mostly hidden from all of them, even if they did accuse me of dating Cloud many times in the past.

My head whipped toward the Reno lookalike Turk when he slammed his empty glass down in front of me and flashed, what I assumed to be, a charming smile. "So, you own this bar, huh? I know I've never been here before, but I've heard a lot about it from all the other people in Shinra. They seem to come here a lot, which I'm sure you're aware of since, like, you do own the place. You've had this bar for, how long, like, two years or something like that in Edge? Wow, you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself at such a young age. You look excellent too… how do you manage to work out when you're running your own business?"

"Rod, knock it off," the Turk with the long grey hair said, smacking him in the back of the head with the palm of her hand.

Grabbing his head, he whined, "Dammit, Alex! What the hell was that for?"

Scoffing, she rested her hip against the counter. "First of all, because your rambling isn't a turn on and second, for hitting on a woman that could kick your ass."

The statement was true; I could've easily taken him down, Turk or not, but I wasn't going to say anything about it. Nor would I actually act upon it. Instead, I smirked to myself and then turned to Rude, who, like usual, was slowly drinking the beer in his hand. "Maybe you'll answer me because everyone else isn't listening. What does ShinRa want with Cloud?"

"The prez just wants to be friends with him is all," Reno said, answering for Rude. Rude turned his head toward Reno, but I couldn't tell if he was glaring or not because of the sunglasses that he always wore. Even though he was inside the dimly lit bar, he still had his sunglasses on his face.

"That's all?" I questioned, absentmindedly making another margarita for Elena when she handed me the money. Reno exhaled a puff of smoke toward the ceiling and nodded. Somehow I didn't believe him in the slightest. "Well, you might want to tell him that calling a potential friend ten times in the same day might scare them off. Rufus Shinra should work on his people skills."

My sarcasm made Elena chuckle under her breath, and I could see Rude trying to hide it as well. "Seriously, Tif,"she began, taking the margarita and sipping it. "We'd love to tell you, but it's confidential."

"Then again, Strife'll probably tell her anyway while he's snuggling her at night." I shot Reno a glare for the comment. "Just a simple observation, Lockheart."

"We're friends," I informed him, even though it was a blatant lie. I wasn't one to lie like that, but it really wasn't his business to know.

He chuckled and shook his head… he didn't believe me, but oh well. "Whatever you say, Lockheart. Just try to get him to Shinra Headquarters tomorrow, all right? Otherwise, the prez'll be cranky and I don't really want to deal with that."

"Sure, Reno," I replied with a somewhat sarcastic smile that was able to shut him up and drop the subject. I wasn't about to force Cloud into doing something that he didn't want to do, but I would at least talk to him about it. Besides, there wasn't a reason to why Rufus Shinra would want to see him unless it was important… but that's what I was afraid of.


End file.
